Brynilicous

Bryn is demonstrating more and more her understanding of the world. It blows me away sometimes and I think...wow...she's only 18 months...but she gets it. Ok...most of it. Examples:

1. One day she wanted apple juice. I knew she wanted something in the kitchen cause she grabbed my hand and said 'caa'...which means 'come'. I had to go back to the playroom for something, so I wasn't able to 'caa'. While in the playroom I heard all sorts of grunts coming from Bryn. Next thing I know she's in the playroom with a 64oz bottle of apple juice. She'd grabbed it off the shelf and carried it in. So...I got her some juice.
2. I asked her to get a cloth diaper for her change. She ran back to the changing table and grabbed a diaper. This is not unusual and she's been doing it for a while, but this time was different. She came with the diaper...and a bare bum. She put the diaper on the ground and laid on top of it. A few seconds later, I hear some sloshing in the bathroom. Bryn had taken her wet diaper to the toilet where she was 'cleaning' it. She's seen me do it many times with her stinky diapers and was just getting the job done. While I'm appreciative of her trying to help, she was dirty and I hope she doesn't try and clean diapers again.
The point of all this...kids amaze me. They really do understand what's going on around them and want to be a part of it. I'm just glad I get to see it happen.

2 + 8 = 10

I figure I should make some goals for 2008. Here we go:

1. Have a baby. This should be easy, right? After all, the baby WILL come out. No problem.
2. Move to Pittsburgh. The baby is due March 7th, and we will move a month later. Take into account that I have been at least 10 days "late" with both my previous pregnancies, and we'll be moving a few weeks after I'm finished with my first goal. Not bad!
3. Eat less sugar. Yikes! Brandon and I previously had a 'rule' of having our sugar indulgence for FHE once a week. However, Halloween and Christmas broke down our wills and we eat entirely too much now. It's weird...sugar really doesn't make me feel good. Chocolate cake tastes great while I'm eating it, but after...there is a lead ball in my stomach...not referring to junior. So...why do I eat it? It's delicious. So...here we go again. I'll limit my sugar intake to FHE night and any activities/functions/parties that have desserts.
4. Exercise. I'll have to figure that one out...and the details later. For now, I'll keep trying to fit in my pregnancy yoga and packing the house while chasing my 2 crazies around the house. That's exercise!

Ok...that's it for now.

Snowman

To celebrate New Years, Brandon and Elle made a snowman. He has eyes of rock, arms of pinecones, McDonald's hat and a leaf nose. The nose fell out which is why Elle looks concerned here.

Ah...the creators. And the leaf is back. Brandon declared "That was really good snowman snow."

Ski Jump

There was plenty of snow for us in Ottawa. There was a snow bank in the backyard that we made a little sledding ride. Bryn wanted to go on it the most and insisted on doing it herself.

During the downhill she would lay back and look up. I guess it's more fun to slide down looking at the sky. Brandon was the instigator for all this backyard sledding. Notice the line of kids waiting for their turn.

This is Elle after a successful trip down. Can she see?

Being a stellar example for the younger children, Brandon decided to go down on the sled snowboard style. As I was taking the picture, I don't remember if he made it down all the way or not. He'll have to fill you in there.

All this fun wore Bryn completely out and she fell asleep watching 'Word on the Street'.